Stark Tower
by WrappedInNight
Summary: Two years ago, Thor took Loki to Asgard; and to Odin. Left with his adopted father, Loki is assigned a punishment not even Thor and Frigga are aware of. Now, as Tony decodes the encrypted files of shield for fun, he comes across a file with some disturbing footage revealing the truth of Lokis punishment. From a year and a half ago.
1. Brucies Files

Tony couldn't sleep.

While this wasn't at all in any way unusual, the affect a lack of sleep had on the genius was still annoying.

The scientist was on his second bottle of vodka for that week, which, to be fair, probably wasn't doing much for his apparent insomnia.

"Jarvissssss!" Tony whined, spinning around a few times before he got dizzy and had to stop. "I'm bored, buddy."

"I suggest you stop drinking, sir. And Pepper said to tell you that she believes you require more sleep." Tony growled.

"No taking sides," He said, making his way towards his work desk. "And you're required to take my side anyway, not Pepper's."

Tony sat down, bending his knees and allowing gravity to pull him into his chair. He smirked mischievously, reaching towards touch screen and tapping on a folder marked S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Sir, I insist you don't open that folder, you will only cause problems." Jarvis spoke up, his warning falling on deaf ears as Tony got comfortable in his chair and started to explore his new-found toy.

"Seriously, Jarvis. You need to calm down buddy." He took another swig out of his precious bottle. "Brucie made this program for a rainy day."

He glanced towards the only window in the work shop, towards the back of the room. Although it was pitch dark outside, Tony could tell that it definitely wasn't raining. Close enough.

Tony messed around in the folder for a few hours, exploring the many, individually encrypted files of S.H.I.E.L.D. and simultaneously editing and improving Banner's various decryption programs.

The scientist had always been easy to entertain, even more so when he was drunk. By the time the sun started to rise in the morning, he was still awake; and still playing around in the S.H.I.E.L.D. folder.

Some of the firewalls were easier to crack than others, and some were so well encrypted that Tony had to skip them and make a note to re-visit them later. As he neared the end of his search, before the other Avengers woke up and wondered what he was up to, Tony saw a folder that immediately grabbed his attention.

He sat up straighter, instantly sobering as he easily got past S.H.I.E.L.D.s meager protection and into the folder.

"What the Hell," Tony stood up, still staring at the screen as the empty vodka bottle fell from his lap and landed with a thunk on the floor beside the desk.

"Is everything alright, sir?" Jarvis said, detecting the distress and panic in the scientist's rising blood pressure. Tony didn't respond, instead rushing from the workroom with a determined glare on his face.

Tony ran into Cap as he ran through the halls, literally. His face hit a solid chest and he fell to the ground.

"Whoah, Tony. Are you alright?" Steve held out his hand to help Tony up. "What are you," Tony pushed himself to his feet, ignoring Steve's offered hand and interrupting him.

"I was digging through S.H.I.E.L.D.'s folders," Tony started, holding his hand to silence Steve's protests as he continued.

"I know it probably wasn't a good idea, but I was drunk and bored and you know how I get. Anyway," Tony barely stopped to breathe as he tried to get his point across while simultaneously trying to calm the rising panic attack.

"I saw this suspicious looking folder, and I recognized the name from somewhere, but I don't remember why it sounds familiar. Something Russian, I think. Maybe Natasha can help, Наказание Локи or whatever, I haven't had time to translate it yet." Steve put his hands on Tony's shoulders.

"Tony, clam down. Take a deep breath." He paused, waiting for Tony to listen to him and regain control. He offered the scientist a smile as Tony's breathing pattern returned to normal.

"Okay, now, what are you trying to tell me?"

Tony took another deep breath before looking Steve straight in his eyes and saying, "I found Loki."


	2. Rainedeer Games

Tony rushed with Steve back to his workshop, making sure to take deep breaths as he went, just to calm the last of the panic.

Cap almost ran ahead of Tony, anxiety building up in his chest at the thought of their old enemy. The first battle had caused the mass destruction of the cuty, what would happen if they had to fight again?

"Hello Sir, I'm glad to see your blood pressure had returned to normal." Jarvis greeted as Tony and Steve burst through the workshop doors.

Tony ignored the AI entirely, heading straight for the computer. "The footage is from a year and a half ago, a few months after the battle." Tony informed Steve as he sat at the desk and started to pull of the video.

Cap eyed the empty vodka bottle at Tony's feet, realizing that the Scientist must have stayed up all night.

"Here you go," Tony pushed himself away from the desk, allowing Steve to approach in his place.

The twenty second video clip had no sound. It played on a loop, showing an interigation room with loki sitting at the metal table in the center of the room. His wrists were shackled to the table, and his ankles were cuffed to his chair.

Loki had his signiture grin on as he stared forward at the door. About five seconds into the video, Fury stepped through into the room.

Cap could hear Tony behind him, grumbling something about Fury keeping secrets, but Steve was focused on the video.

Fury sat down across from Loki, saying something to him that made Loki laugh. Then Fury leaned back, saying something again and wiping the laughter off of Loki's face. Loki glared at Fury, shouting something at him as he leaned as far forward as the cuffs around his wrist would allow him.

The video ended there, pausing for a moment on Loki's face before playing the clip gain. Steve studied the look on Loki's face for the split second it was up, discerning fear and anger in the gods features before the clip was gone and the video played again.

Steve turned towards Tony, who was now standing with his arms crossed. He mimicked the stance.

"We need to talk to Fury." Cap started towards the door.

"No, no we don't. Jarvis, doors." Tony snapped his fingers, turning his body towards Steve.

"Yes Sir."

Cap reached for the door, hearing it click locked before he could pull it open.

"Thanks Jarvis," Tony held his thumb up for the AI before starting towards a very confused Captain.

"Tony, what the hell?" Steve said angrily, gesturing towards the locked doors.

Tony shrugged. "You were going to go to Fury. Can't do that buddy." He stopped three feet in front of Steve. "What we need to do is decrypt the rest of those files and then confront Loki."

Steve raised his eyebrow. "Why not take it right to Fury?" Tony waved his arms around him, gesturing in the general vicinity of his computer.

"I was rifling through S.H.I.E.L.D. files, Steve! How happy do you think Fury will be to hear that?" Tony turned and stalked back to his screen.

"So your solution is to finish checking out the files, and then to break in to S.H.I.E.L.D. and confront Loki?" Steve followed Tony until he was behind the scientists chair.

Tony had already started on the next encrypted file. "Of course not," He said, not looking up. Steve opened his mouth to question Tony, but he inturupted, answering Steve's question. "I'll finish looking through the files, you and Bruce will go confront Loki."


	3. Planning?

Steve stalked through the halls of Stark tower, looking for Bruce while simultaneously wondering how he would explain the situation. While Bruce was an extremely intelligent man, Steve wasn't so sure how he'd react to finding out Fury had been keeping Loki on earth without the knowledge of the team.

He grumbled to himself as he walked, partially rehearsing what to say to Bruce and partially voicing his own opinions about the situation.

Steve was so caught up in his thoughts about finding Bruce that he didn't see said doctor turn around the corner and stop in front of him.

"Steve? Are you alright? What are you doing?" Bruce stopped right in front of Cap, who was stumbling over his tounge trying to for words.

"Uh, um..." Cap straightened his posture and put his hands behind his back, rocking back and forth like a nervous childhood. "Well, you see, Stark kind of..." Bruce raised his eyebrow, setting the Stark pad that had been his hand down on the hallway table.

"Steve, what's going on?" Bruce crossed his arms. "What did Tony do?" Steve froze.

"He uh, Stark, he..." Steve took a deep breath. "Stark found hidden S.H.I.E.L.D. files containing videos of Loki. And Fury. Well, it was really just one video of Loki, being interrogated by Fury, for like, twenty seconds. Tony decrypted it using that program you came up with. I think he stayed up all night doing it, he downed a bottle of vodka..." Steve trailed off, glancing up at Bruce.

He still had his arms crossed, and his face was completely void of expression. What startled Steve though, was the gradual whitening of Bruce's knuckles and the slight but growing shakiness of his posture.

"Bruce, calm down! Loki's in holding, we'd know if he was out and about!" Steve took a step forward, raising a hand in effort to calm and steady Bruce, but he just took a few stumbling steps backward.

"I'm fine! I'm fine, hold on." Bruce spat out, more like he was trying to reassure himself that Steve. He kneeled down, putting his head between his hands as he tried to control his breathing.

Steve got down on his own knees a few feet from his struggling friend. He reached his hand out again, but pulled it back as he remember what happened the last time he tried to reassure the doctor.

After what felt like hours, but was more than likely less than a minute, Bruce, lowered his hands and raised his head. Steve stood up slowly, offering his arm for Bruce to grab. As soon as the doctor was steadily on his feet, he nodded to Steve, not trusting his voice yet as the two started towards Tony's work room.

"Tony, what the hell were you thinking?!" Bruce wasted no time in confronting the offending scientist.

Tony whirled around in his chair, eyes opened wide as he stood to hide the screen behind him. He had a half finished bottle of beer to his lips, and Bruce didn't miss the same empty Vodka bottle that Steve had first noticed underneath Tony's desk.

"Bruce, wait!" Tony took a step forward, but Bruce had already turned his attention towards the video upon the screen. Steve leaned around him to get his own glimpse.

"What's that?" Bruce gestured to the screen, where the video had started back at the beginning. Tony sat his bear down and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I decrypted the second video. There's hundreds of these things, and they're all pretty heavily encrypted." Tony stepped to the side so Steve and Bruce could get a better look at the screen. "This one's shorter than the last one, and Fury's in it again." Steve stepped forward to stand beside Tony, while Bruce took his seat in Tony's office chair by the desk.

The video again had no sound, and it was in the same room from the last. This time, Loki had no smile on his face. The date in the bottom corner told the three of them that this video took place less than a day after the last one, but Loki already looked tired. Bruce stiffened a bit when Fury stepped into view of the camera, but he relaxed pretty fast when Steve hesitantly placed his hand on his shoulder.

Fury's back was to the camera, so they couldn't read his lips, but whatever Fury said next made Loki growl in contempt. The three avengers could barely process the level of hate in Loki's eyes before the video ended, pausing for a split second before replaying again.

The three of them exchanged confused glances before Tony kicked Bruce out of his chair and took a seat. He closed out the video, picking up his beer again and opening the next file.

"So what's the plan?" Steve took his natural, soldier like position just behind Tony, with his arms crossed and feet shoulder length apart. Bruce just plopped down in his own chair, rolling it over to the desk and leaning back. Tony didn't even flinch when Bruce put his feet upon the desk.

"Why aren't we confronting Fury?" He asked, putting his hands behind his head. Tony sighed heavily, looking towards Cap to answer before returning his attention the task at hand.

"Tony doesn't want Fury to know about your guys' little S.H.I.E.L.D. file decryption mission." Steve gave Bruce a glare, calmly reminding him that he had actually started the program. Bruce returned with a weak smile before turning back to Tony.

"So what are we supposed to do then?" Tony again tossed his head to Cap, taking a swig of the beer in his hand.

"Tony wants us to go infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. and confront Loki." Tony nodded, keeping his eyes on the screen.

Bruce opened his mouth to speak, but Tony interrupted him.

"I've almost got this file done, how about you two go get your mission started and let me be." Steve glanced at Bruce before shrugging his shoulders and starting towards the door. With a worried glance towards Tony, Bruce got up and followed him.

As soon as the doors shut, Tony let out a deep sigh. He clicked open the video file he'd just cracked. Leaning back, he whispered to Jarvis as the video started to play.

"We're in for some deep trouble buddy."


	4. Surprise Surprise

Chapter Four

Steve and Bruce had stolen one of Tony's cars, Bruce picking a black sports car and Steve electing to drive it. Bruce didn't like to drive, or rather he didn't like having other people's lives depend on his skills.

Tony had been the one to insist Steve learned to drive, calling it un-American to not have license. Steve finally gave in when Tony left him in the middle of no where with no way to civilization except for one of his least favorite prized cars and the keys.

While the first ten minutes of the drive to SHIELD headquarters was silent, Bruce finally broke the calm by announcing the elephant in the room.

"So uh," the doctor ran his fingers through his hair nervously, looking towards Steve. "How exactly are we going to break into headquarters?" He shuffled in his seat. "It's not like the big guy can help, and no offense Cap, but one super soldier isn't enough to bring down all the SHIELD agents that cross our path."

Steve drummed his fingers on the steering wheel while he thought over Bruce's statement. He sighed deeply before he finally answered. "Honestly, I have no idea." Bruce rolled his eyes.

"Very helpful."

Steve grinned shyly. "I'm not a mastermind or anything. Tony could easily come up with some half backed plan that would probably work, but apparently he's too busy typing in code."

Bruce scoffed before opening his mouth to respond back, but before he could get any words out, the cars speakers started ringing like they were getting a phone call.

Steve swerved a bit, jumping at the noise and looking around in a mad search for the source. Bruce, after recovering from his own initial shock, reached towards the built in screen in the dash of the black interior.

"Hey Tony, whatcha got for us?" Bruce smiled at Steve's obvious shock. On the other end of the line, Tony could be heard moving something around. "Tony?"

"Bruce!" Tony almost shouted from his end. "Bruce, buddy, we've got a problem," Bruce frowned when Tony let out a startled shriek, apparently falling over somewhere in his workshop. Bruce could hear tools clattering to the ground and Tony cursing in the background.

"You alright Tony?" Steve asked, looking concerned in the drivers seat as he leaned over to peer at the screen. Bruce snapped his fingers and pointed to the road, mouthing at the Super soldier to keep his eyes in the highway.

Tony didn't answer, instead going silent. Bruce glanced at Steve. "Tony, what's going on? Why'd you call us?"

Tony grunted from his side. "I decrypted more of those files, and I'm on my way to meet you guys at the headquarters in a second. I just need to - whoah!" Bruce knit his eyebrows together as they heard Tony fall again, yelling out curses as he went that made Steve wince.

"Language, Tony," Steve muttered as he tried to keep his attention on the road in front of him.

"My suits being stubborn. I can't get the gauntlets on, and one of my boots don't fit." Tony sounded exasperated while he apparently fumbled with the stubborn suit.

"Have you tried calming down?" Bruce shook his head. "Or sobering up? How many bears have you downed since we left?" Bruce didn't expect an answer from the struggling scientist, but he could have sworn he heard Tony mutter, a few, under his breath.

"Look, I'll leave any minute and meet you guys there to help out. How close are you right now?" Tony sighed. Bruce could almost picture the scientist, sitting in his workshop chair with an annoyed scowl on his face.

Steve slammed his hands against the steering wheel. "Tony! What did you find? Why did you call us!" There was silence for a moment.

"Fury's questioning Loki. As of a year ago, Loki was taken to his own interrogation room and Fury's been trying to get information out of him." Tony sounded somber, and Bruce had to fight not to ask him to elaborate.

Steve had apparently come to the same conclusion, and he changed the subject. "Were about an hour away. Do you have a plan?"

"Yeah, of course I have a plan. I always have a plan. I can't tell you the plan, but I do have one." Tony stopped talking for a moment before he suddenly shouted. "I got the boot on! As soon as I get the gauntlets on, I'll head your way." Tony hung up the call before either Bruce or Steve could say anything.

Bruce and Tony didn't say anything else for the rest of the drive.

Each had their own thoughts going, both about whatever Tony had seen in those files, and what Fury was doing doing with Loki.

They met up with Tony a block from SHIELD, Tony arriving almost a half hour before Bruce and Steve.

"Alright. So, here's the plan," Tony wasted no time getting to the point as Steve and Bruce pulled into the parking lot he was standing in.

"Bruce is going to wait at the car, Cap is going to distract the agents, and I'm going after Loki." Bruce and Steve bot balked at the idea of Tony going alone, but Bruce was more than happy to stay in the car.

Steve tried to argue with Tony while Bruce settled himself back into the passenger seat of the black sports car.

"You can't go after him alone, the guys dangerous!" Steve almost yelled at Tony, who stood where he was looking bored.

"Loki isn't a threat right now, I promise." Tony started to make his way to the headquarters, but Steve grabbed the shoulder of suit and pulled him back around to face him.

"What do you mean he's not a threat? The guy nearly destroyed the city a little over a year ago, of course he's dangerous!" Tony rolled his eyes before shrugging Steve off and starting forward again.

"You didn't see the footage. Trust me Cap, I'll be fine." Steve threw his hands up in annoyance, but he followed after Tony anyways.

The three teammates had mics on, Tony's own design for the Avengers. Bruce pulled his over his head and turned it on, wincing as he heard Steve and Tony arguing.

Well, Steve was arguing. Tony was mostly silent.

"Guys, shut up." Bruce sighed as he slid down in his seat, rubbing his forehead. Honestly, the scientist and super soldier shouldn't ever be left alone for the sake of the sanity of those around them.

Steve did a sort of irritated growl into his mic before he obediently stopped trying to argue with Tony.

"Thank you." Bruce restated himself, sitting up straighter.

"Were almost at the headquarters Bruce, so pretty soon were gonna have to focus and we won't be able to talk." Bruce nodded, forgetting the others couldn't see the action.

"This shouldn't take long," Tony started. "It's going to be an in and out mission, I know where Loki is."

"You're positive you want to do this Tony?" Steve asked in and last and tempt to dissuade Tony from his current plan.

"I got this Stevie." Tony answered quickly. "Split up."

Steve charged towards the SHIELD agents already in the lobby, distracting them while Tony shot around him and disappeared into some hallway.

Steve knocked out the first three agents with a simple flick of the wrist, sending his shield through the air with careful accuracy. The next two that rushed him, Steve put down easily, one with a swift roundhouse kick and the other with a quick headbutt.

He was too focused on the ever-growing swarm of agents to listen to the mic, dropping agents left and right while being careful not to inure anyone more than required.

Tony flew as fast and as silent as he could towards the room he knew Loki was being held in.

He had hacked SHIELDS active cameras and searched the live feed to try anyone pinpoint Loki's position. What he'd seen had sobered him instantly, the effects of the numerous beers he'd downed after Bruce and Steve had left leaving him sick.

He avoided the agents in the halls as best he could, only knocking out the ones that got in his way. He could hear Steve working on his own task, and Bruce was remaining silent so as not to distract the other two.

Tony landed gracefully as he finally approached the unguarded door he knew Loki was being held behind. Bracing himself, he shot off the lock on the interrogation room door and carefully made his way into the dark room

"Alright cap, I've got the god, now let's get out of here." Steve let out a relieved sigh as he forced his way towards the door, sprinting past the SHIELD agents and making his way out the door just as Tony flew out behind him with something Steve couldn't make out.

As his feet hit the sidewalk, Steve heard an alarm scream out from the building behind him. Tony was already at the car, waiting for Steve while he anxiously shifted from one foot to the other.

Steve's eyes widened as he took in the still, bloody form hanging limply in Tony's arms. He could see Bruce's ghostly white face in the passenger seat, and he prayed that Bruce could control his temper. Now was not the time to hulk out.

"I'll meet you guys at the tower." Tony nodded quickly to Steve before taking off, leaving the shocked teammate alone.

Steve shook his head, trying to focus while he climbed into the drivers seat.

SHIELD agents appeared around the corner, guns at the ready as Steve punched the gas.

Bruce sat silently in the passenger seat, still white faced. Steve glanced at him quickly while he speed down the road.

"I'm sure there's a good explanation, well figure this out at the tower." He tried to reassure the doctor, who gave him a curt nod without looking away from the road in front of them.

Steve turned his own attention forward, trying to quiet the ideas and concerns his mind seemed to fire off.

It would be a long two hours home.


	5. Oh Steve Poor Steve

Tony flew as fast as he could back to the tower without jostling the unconscious god in his arms too much. He didn't even know whether or not he should be carrying the god at all, having no idea what kinds of injuries he had sustained.

Tony felt bad for demanding Steve and Bruce go to the SHIELD building in the first place and then leaving them on their own, but he needed to get Loki back to the safety of his tower and scanned by Jarvis for injuries. The medical bay at the tower would be more than enough to hold the weak man in his arms, and Bruce was enough of a doctor that he would be able to help at least a bit.

Tony landed on the tower balcony as gently as possible, wincing when he touched down.

"Jarvis, buddy, scan Loki." Tony commanded quickly, holding Loki away from his body as the suit was carefully dismantled around him. He left the gauntlets on, unable to put Loki down to have them removed as he rushed to the elevator. He held Loki bridal style and as securely as he could, trying to ignore the fact that he could literally feel every one of Loki's bones. He tried not to study the cuts and burns all over the god's body, keeping his head up and eyes forward.

He almost ran off the elevator into the med bay, gently placing Loki on one of the three beds and pulling a machine over next to the bed. He quickly shed his gauntlets while he turned the thing on.

Tony looked up when he heard the elevator ding, returning to his work as he noticed Steve and Bruce getting off the elevator.

Bruce rushed over to the bed while Steve stood a few feet away, staring at Loki with a shocked look on his face.

"Did you have Jarvis scan him?" Bruce asked Tony, typing something into the Stark pad in his hand while fiddling with the machine Tony had gotten. He wasn't that kind of a doctor, but he knew enough from his own studies to help Loki as long as he didn't have to do any surgery.

"Yeah, Jarvis how's that going?" Tony looked over Bruce's shoulder, trying to find something he could do to help.

"Scans are complete, Sir." Jarvis pulled said scans up on the screen on the machine next to Loki's bed. "Mr. Banner, I presume you are able to understand the information these scans provide on Loki's current condition?" Jarvis asked the doctor, who was reading through what Tony would only be able to describe as a foreign language.

"Yeah, Jarvis. I got this," Bruce ran his hand through his hair as he read through the information Jarvis had provided him.

Tony moved behind Bruce to look over his other shoulder. "What's wrong with him?" The inventor asked, resting his chin on Bruce's shoulder while he pretended to read the Stark pad. "Other than the obvious..." He added as an after-thought, glancing back at the still form.

Bruce set the pad down on the machine before turning to Tony. "There's a lot wrong with him, but we can start with the simplicities." He pointed Tony towards a shelf and cabinet of supplies and instructed him to put an IV into Loki's arm.

"Loki's is suffering major malnourished, let's start there." Bruce turned towards Steve, who hadn't moved from his position away from the others. "Steve, can you help me clean him up?" He turned to yet another cabinet in the medical bay and pulled out a bucket, as well as a few soft looking rags. "I need you to fill this up with water for me." He held out the small bucket, but Steve didn't move.

"Are we sure we're doing the right thing?" He said, still un-moving. Both Tony and Bruce looked at him in disbelief. "I just mean, he's a criminal," Steve stuttered under the glares of his teammates. "And Fury had to have had a reason for interrogating him, he must be hiding something that SHIELD needs to know!" Steve squirmed a bit before solidifying his figure, crossing his arms and spreading his feet apart into a wider stance.

Bruce glared at him. "There was nothing Loki did that warranted the condition he is currently in. Now help me clean him off, we can deal with your morality issues later." Bruce threw the bucket at Steve, who barely caught it before it smacked into his face.

As Steve sighed and turned away to fill the bucket in a nearby sink, Bruce closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. Now was not the time to Hulk out.

Tony looked up at him, grinning. "I did the IV!" He had a childish grin on his face, and Bruce relaxed.

"Alright, now we need to focus on getting the things into his body that he was deprived of while he was – locked up." Bruce again turned to the list of things wrong with Loki, rattling off various fluids for Tony to hook up to the IV. By the time Steve returned, Tony and Bruce had just finished with the various medications to help Loki's recovery.

Steve held out the bucket, avoiding Bruce's gaze.

"Steve, why don't you go look over those files Tony decrypted. He and I can finish up here." Bruce took the bucket from Steve's hand with a sigh.

Steve nodded and turned towards the elevator without an argument. He needed to go over his thoughts alone.

"And Steve?" Tony looked up from his task of wetting one of the soft rags. Steve stopped walking and turned his head just slightly enough to show Tony that he was paying attention. "If you go to Fury, Jarvis will let me know."

"I'd advise against it, Captain America." Steve nodded, looking up at the AI before stepping into the elevator, still avoiding Tony and Bruce's gaze.


	6. We Can't Tell Anyone

Steve kicked aside empty bottles of beer and half full bottles of liquor as he made his way through Tony's workspace to his computer. The desk itself was covered in spills and discarded junk food, as well as a few papers and printed documents. Steve glanced at them momentarily as he brushed everything aside, but most of the words and charts didn't make enough sense to him to grab his attention for long.

Steve winced as the chair lurched backward when he sat down, either built to be an annoyance or broken after years of Tony's abuse. He scooted forward until he was as comfortable as he could be in front of the computer screen. Luckily, Tony had left the files up on the monitor because Steve would have never been able to find them by himself. He eyed the mouse before reaching for it and giving it an experimental twitch. Satisfied as the cursor moved across the screen, Steve scrolled up through the list of documents until he got to the top. After clicking it once didn't open the file and instead simply highlighted it in light blue, Steve pulled the keyboard forward and let his fingers hover above the letters until he found enter.

It took a few seconds before the file was up and loaded, and Steve recognized it as the first one Tony had shown him. He watched it through again, paying close attention to Fury's movements and posture. Then he watched it a second time, studying Loki. Just like the first time he'd watched the video, Loki got angry after something Fury said.

Closing the video, Steve clicked the next video on the list and searched the keyboard again for the enter key. Again, the video that came up was one he had watched previously. Loki looked tired, and he again got angry when Fury spoke to him. Steve watched the video through a few times before closing out and heading towards the next on the list.

Each video was just like the second. Loki walked into the room, cuffed and, in a few videos, shackled. He never showed any physical injuries, but after a few videos steve could tell that the god was getting more and more tired with each interrogation. Still, he never showed so much as a scratch, much less any bruises or broken bones. After the thirtieth video or so, Steve figured out that he could double click on the files to open them without using the enter key. He also discovered that watching what was essentially the exact same video over and over while trying to read a man's lips while his back was to the camera was very difficult and very boring.

"Mr. Rogers?" Steve startled as Jarvis' voice broke his concentration. He ran his hand through his hair and buried his face in his palms before he responded. "Mr. Banner and sir would like for you to rejoin them in the medical room, if you would." Jarvis phrased the command as a request, but Steve knew he didn't have a choice.

"Tell them I'll be right there, Jarvis." Steve pushed the chair away from the desk and stood up. "Please," he added before making his way through the littered room and towards the door.

As he got closer to the medical room, steve could hear Bruce and Tony's voices as they discussed whatever it was that they'd summoned him to the room for. He leaned against the doorway and rapped his knuckles against the wall, announcing his presence to the two before he entered the room and headed towards them.

"Before you get any further," Tony stopped him, standing from his seat on the arm of the couch against the wall and holding up his palm. "We need to know whether you've decided to help us or not." He exchanged glances with Bruce, who was sitting on the couch with his arms crossed. He was obviously still angry from Steve's, "lapse in morality".

Steve sighed and looked at the ground, running his hand through his hair. "Yeah, guys. Yeah I'll help." He looked up at Tony, who held his chin up while he eyed his teammate suspiciously. Suddenly he relaxed his posture, clapping his hands and rubbed them together.

"Alright, here's the deal." He gestured for Bruce to stand up and join his and Steve's group. "Loki is hurt and sick." He stated plainly, pointing at the broken god. He once again gestured for the others to follow him as he approached the hospital bed. "He's got a lot of issues, and I haven't decoded enough of the footage to know what really happened to him." He made his way around Loki's sleeping form so the the bed was separating him from Steve and Bruce. "So the plan is as follows: Protect Loki, and heel Loki."

Steve narrowed his eyes, and Bruce buried his face in his palms. Tony ignored their reactions, responding with a grin and continuing with his speech. "We have to hide him from Fury, and we probably can't tell the others either." Steve furrowed his brows and opened his mouth, but Bruce beat him to it.

"Why can' we tell the team?" He cocked his head to the side, looking back and forth between Tony's determined expression and Loki's comatose state. Tony rolled his eyes.

"'Tasha's completely loyal to Fury, Birdie's completely loyal to 'Tasha, and Thor is Loki's brother. I don't want to be in the same room as him and his bloody brother." He raised his eyebrows, daring them to disagree. Bruce instead nodded in agreement, moving closer to the machine Loki was hooked up to so he could look over his vitals. Steve grimaced, but he more or less agreed with Tony as well.

"So it's decided!" Tony clapped his hands together. "We can't tell anyone."


End file.
